Int’l Fil-Am singer hands over new school building to Cagayan de Oro City students

By Elaine O. Ratunil

Monday 24th of September 2012

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Sept 24 (PIA) -- Apl.de.ap, a Filipino-American singer and member of the famous American rap musical group Black Eyed Peas has returned to the Philippines to hand over a new school building to students in Cagayan de Oro

Apl.de.ap is in the country to fulfill a promise he has made during a visit to student survivors of Tropical Storm “Sendong” at Balulang Elementary School in Cagayan de Oro City on February 2012.

“I will come back when this school is finished,” Apl.de.ap said in a talk among reporters and writers after the ground breaking for the school building months ago.

Apl.de.ap will hand over a newly completed two-storey four-classroom school building to students on Tuesday, September 25.

Implemented by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the school building project was funded under his “We Can Be Anything” campaign, which is a partnership between the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF).

Cagayan de Oro City was among those badly hit by tropical storm Sendong. Several infrastructures among them schools were damaged and destroyed by flashflood triggered by the storm that also left several lives lost in the tragedy.

Apl.de.ap. visited damaged schools weeks after the deluge and was moved by the extent of damages brought by Sendong in the city. The Filipino-American rap icon also listened to stories of survivors and has seen their difficult situation at the evacuation centers in the city.

Through the campaign, Apl.de.Ap, a.k.a. Allan Pineda Lindo Jr. hoped to make a difference by improving the lives of poor Filipino children especially in the field of education.

To give Apl.de.ap a platform for his advocacy, NCAF appointed him the special ambassador for education of the “iamninoy-iamcory Movement” in February 2011.

Apl.de.ap’s effort forms part of Bayanihang Pampaaralan (BP) action to help address education concerns in the country. A private sector-led project, Bayanihang Pampaaralan is an initiative that aims to build new classrooms to reduce classroom backlog in the Philippines. In 2011, Department of Education data revealed a classroom shortage of about 66,800. BP hopes to build 10,000 classrooms to help address the problem.

Bayanihang Pampaaralan is a campaign initiative under the 57-75 Education Reform Movement, an alliance composed of the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED), Eugenia Apostol Foundation (formerly Foundation for Worldwide People Power), League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and Synergeia Foundation. (Danny Escabarte/PBSP/PIA10)